Specter says Santorum looking to political future by staying in race

Rick Santorum is only still in the presidential race because he's thinking about his political future, former Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) said Thursday.

"Listen, this campaign is over for the nomination. Santorum is looking for 2016 or he may want to write a book or he may want to sign into a speaker’s bureau," Specter said on CNN. "There's nothing left of his candidacy."

Santorum's comments came as the April 24 Pennsylvania primary approaches. Recent polling shows a tightening race in Santorum's home state, a sign that he could risk an embarrassing loss for his campaign if he continues in the race.

Some of Mitt Romney's supporters have begun to urge Santorum to drop out of the race. Santorum's campaign has said winning the Pennsylvania and Texas primaries are crucial to his campaign's future.

"There's a time -- there's a time not to run any more," Santorum continued. "And there's no point in Santorum's continuing to run here in Pennsylvania for the nomination now. He is doing it for some other reason -- 2016, 2020, a book, speeches, whatever, but not for this nomination. It's over."

Earlier on Thursday, Santorum met with a number of prominent conservatives to discuss his campaign's strategy to clinch the nomination and beat Romney. The meeting reportedly did not involve discussion of Santorum dropping out.

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